Please critique. This is of a lesson I had with my instructor. This was not a easy horse to ride. Please be nice with tips or suggestions. One of my biggest things which I dont think you can see in the pictures is that I ride with my head tilted and throws off my body..But that has gotten better. I don't have regular instruction anymore but I try to work on things that I remember from lessons

Your hands should be above your horses withers and slightly in front....it looks like you are dropping them almost to your knees when trying to turn the horse. The reins seem extremely long as well....was there a reason for that?In the first picture it looks like you are pinching with your knee with your toe in, but in the other pics, your foot is forward. Try and push your heels down a bit more :)

ok so my instuctor doesnt want my heels lower it pushes me out of position. She said its ok for then to be level with the stirrups and she has me bring my reins out toward my knee (above my knees though) like that to supposeable help straighten the horse. I guess the horse is also trained that the outside rein is how you move the horse and so my instructor told me to bring the reins over her neck to have her move on the circle correctly. Like I said it was a hard ride and not what I am use to. She told me to ride with the reins longer that is why the reins were longer. I have alot more pictures and some look better than others.

okay... I have more time now so i looked at the pictures more, keep your thumbs on top. Try to close your hands so that they arent so loose, it maybe kind of feel beter for the horse, but a horse would usually rather a steady contact then a loose uneven unsteady one. :)

I don't know much about English form, but maybe pick your hands up a little bit and point your thumbs up a tad bit more. Look up and roll your shoulders back some. It looks like your slouching just a teeny tiny bit, but it could just be the jacket. Forgive me if I'm wrong! You look like you're riding great though :].

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail...

You can still use pressure on the neck to turn a horse, but if you start bringing your hand across the neck, you might as well ride one handed and in a western saddle. If you are using some neck reining/pressure, you should also be using your legs to help push the horse into the turn for a better circle(inside rein, outside leg). It doesnt have to really lay right across the neck for them to get the point, just it being there.

My next question would be....why are you riding a western horse to learn how to ride english? Long reins and neck reining make me believe that this horse is an older western show horse....but of course I could be wrong. Just what pops into my head :)

to correct this isnt a western horse or western trained horse. Its just wierd how my instructor had me ride this horse. Its not really neck reining its just wierd. For example riding on a circle instead of bringing my outside rein and inside leg to keep the horse on the circle she has me bring the outside rein toward her neck and the inside rein toward the inside while i use my outside leg. Like I said its a different riding technique ive never done so it is new to me. Another question how old and what breed do you think this horse is?

Remember to look up up up! If you look down at the ground that's where you may end up! I remember my trainers telling me that! You always want to look where you want to go.

You should hold your reins with your thumbs on top like you are holding coffee mug or ice cream cone. You'll want to rotate them 90 degrees from these photos and close your fingers! You should also hold your hands up higher. My trainer tells me to imagine an invisible fist underneath my hands.

I'm still reminding myself about those very same hand problems. My trainer threatened to sew my pinkies shut, lol!

Hey girl, don't be so hard on yourself. You are doing pretty well there, if you ask me. IMHO the first and last photo are the best. In the first I see a good leg position, and I wouldn't want me heel any lower for a lesson on the flat. You have a nice upright postion and good line from elbow to bit. The contact is weak and somewhat ineffectual, but maybe this is where the horse is in it's training; not ready for a stronger contact.

(one thing about the heel down thing. I was told to think more of "raising my toes" rather than jamming my heels down. Your instructor is right in that if you jam your heels down with more pressure than the weight of your whole leg itself, it will result in "pushing" your seat up and out of the saddle. Not good)

I was taught in English riding or dressage you NEVER bring the rein across the neck (mane). NEVER. You can use a kind of suppporting neck rein on the outside to turn the horse, but you still have to "suggest" a soft bend and an idea to the horse to turn to the insde by using some inside rein. you get the horse to "give" to the inside rein, to think that way and you support it by keep the outsid rein steady and firm against his neck.

I agree with another poster that a relatively firm and STEADY rein contact is more comfortable than one that is just loose enought that with each stride of the trot or walk it snaps tight, then loose, tight then loose. Very annoying to the horse.

Also, as they said, don't look so much to the inside. Look no further inside than your horse's inside ear.

Also, like she said, it takes a long , long time and many corrections to get the correct , vertical hand position. We ALL work on that one constantly.

I think you have the making's of a good, sypathetic seat. The horse seems happy enough. You are on the right track!

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